TORONTO (AP) — Zach LaVine called it the best dunk contest ever, a showdown with Aaron Gordon that rivaled what Michael and Dominique Wilkins did.
The Minnesota Timberwolves guard outlasted the Orlando Magic forward in an epic final round of the dunk contest, posting four straight perfect 50s to win for the second straight year.
Lavine and Gordon matched each other dunk for dunk for the first two tries in the final round. Then needed two rounds of tie-breakers to decide a winner.
Gordon got a 47 with a Harold Miner-style jackknife dunk on his fourth dunk, which opened the door for LaVine in one of the most memorbale competitions in years.
LaVine ending it with a between-the-legs dunk form a step inside the free throw line to join the likes of Jordan, Jason Richardson and Nate Robinson as the only back-to-back winners of the dunk title.
Maybe they will come back next year and do it again. In fact, Gordon says, if the league wants him to go to Charlotte, “I probably will.”
For now, it’s time to turn the attention at All-Star weekend back where it was at the start: Kobe Bryant and the rest of the NBA’s best.
The All-Star Game tips off Sunday night, when the crowd might still be buzzing over the performances LaVine and Gordon put on to cap off All-Star Saturday.
Detroit Pistons big man Andre Drummond was also part of the dunk contest, but was eliminated in the first round.
You can check out last night’s highlights in the video above.
